The Three Kingdoms Volume 2 (15 page)

“No,” she objected. “How can you be without a steed, General? The boy here depends on your protection. I am badly wounded and cannot hope to live. Pray take him and go your way. Do not trouble more about me.”

“I hear shouting,” said Zhao Yun. “The soldiers will be upon us again in a moment. Pray mount quickly.”

“Indeed I cannot go,” she said. “Do not let there be a double loss!” And she held out the child toward him as she spoke.

“Take the child,” she cried. “His life is in your hands.”

Again and again Zhao Yun begged her to get onto his horse, but she would not. The shouting drew nearer and nearer. Zhao Yun spoke harshly, “If you will not do what I say, what will happen when the soldiers are here?”

At this she said no more. Putting the child on the ground she turned and threw herself into the dry well. And there she perished.

The warrior relies upon the strength of his charger,

Afoot, how could he shield his young master from harm?

Brave mother! who died to preserve the son of her husband’s line;
Heroine was she, bold and decisive!

Seeing that the lady had died and there was nothing more to be done, Zhao Yun pushed down the broken wall to cover the well lest the dead body should suffer shame. Then he loosened his armor, let down the heart-protecting mirror, and placed the child in his breast. This done he took his spear and remounted.

He had gone but a short distance when he was confronted by Yan Ming, one of Cao Cao’s lesser captains. This warrior used a double-edged, three pointed-weapon and he offered battle. However, Zhao Yun disposed of him after a very few bouts and dispersed his men.

As the road cleared before him he saw another detachment barring his way. At the head of this was an officer of rank exalted enough to display a banner with his name, Zhang He. Zhao Yun didn’t wait to parley but attacked at once. However, this was a more formidable antagonist and half a score of bouts found neither any nearer defeat. But Zhao Yun, with the child in his bosom, could only fight with the greatest caution and so he decided to flee.

Zhang He pursued and as Zhao Yun thought only of spurring his steed to get away, a little way down the road he suddenly went crashing into a pit. On came his pursuer, his spear poised to thrust. Suddenly a brilliant flash of light seemed to shoot out of the pit and the fallen horse leapt with it into the air and was again on firm earth.

A bright glory surrounds the child of the imperial line, now in danger.

The powerful charger forces his way through the press of battle,
Bringing to safety the prince who was to sit on the throne two score years and two;

And the general thus manifested his godlike courage.

This apparition frightened Zhang He, who abandoned the pursuit forthwith. Zhao Yun rode off. Very soon, however, he heard two enemy officers shouting behind him, calling him to halt, and at the same time he saw two more officers blocking his way in front. All four of them had formerly been Yuan Shao’s men. Attacked by the four, Zhao Yun’s position seemed desperate, but he fought fearlessly.

As numerous men of Cao Cao’s came pressing on he drew out the precious sword to beat them off. Nothing could resist the special blade. The sword cut through armor and clothing without effort and blood gushed forth in fountains wherever it struck. The four officers were soon beaten off and Zhao Yun was once again free.

From a hilltop, Cao Cao now saw him showing such valor that none could withstand him, so he immediately asked those around him whether they knew who he was. As no one recognized him, Cao Hong galloped down to the battlefield and shouted to the hero, asking him his name.

“I am Zhao Zi-long of Changshan,” replied Zhao Yun.

Cao Hong returned and told his lord, who said, “A very tiger of a warrior! I must get him alive.” Therefore he sent messengers to all detachments with urgent orders that no arrows were to be fired at any point Zhao Yun should pass—he was to be taken alive.

And so Zhao Yun was able to survive the ordeal, which was also partly due to the good fortune of the child. During this fierce battle of slaughter, Zhao Yun, bearing in his bosom the future lord, cut down two banners, seized three spears, and slew more than fifty of Cao Cao’s renowned officers.

Blood dyed his fighting robe and crimsoned his buff coat;
None dared engage the terrible warrior at Dangyang;
Since days of old only the brave Zhao Yun,
Had fought on the battlefield for his lord in danger.

Thus he fought his way out of the encroachment and away from the scene of the battle. His fighting robe was soaked in blood.

On his way, however, from behind a slope emerged two other bodies of men under two Zhong brothers. One of these was armed with a massive ax, the other a halberd. As soon as they saw Zhao Yun they shouted, “Quickly dismount and be bound!”

He has only escaped from the tiger’s cave,

To risk the deep pool’s sounding wave.

How Zhao Yun escaped will be told in the next chapter.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Zhang Fei Raises Havoc at Long Slope Bridge

Liu Bei Retreats to Jiangxia in Defeat

A
t
the close of the last chapter two brothers appeared in front of our heroic warrior and barred his way of advance. Zhao Yun raised his spear and thrust forth. The brother with the battle-ax came forward to engage him but after only three bouts he was unhorsed. Zhao Yun galloped away. The other brother followed behind him, halberd in hand. The two horses, nose against tail, got so close that the reflection of the halberd could be seen in the heart-protecting mirror on Zhao Yun’s back. Zhao Yun suddenly wheeled round and faced his pursuer, chest to chest. With his spear in his left hand he warded off the halberd and in his right he swung the sharp-edged sword. One slash and he had cut through both helmet and head. The poor man fell to the ground dead, a corpse with only half of a head attached to his body. The other pursuers fled and Zhao Yun continued on the road toward Long Slope Bridge.

But in his rear arose another tumultuous shouting and Wen Ping came up from behind with his men. By the time he reached the bridge he was weary and his horse spent. As he saw Zhang Fei waiting there, all ready for battle, he called out, “Help me, Yi-de!”

“Hurry along,” cried Zhang Fei. “I’ll keep back the pursuers.”

Twenty
li
from the bridge Zhao Yun saw Liu Bei and the others resting under some trees. He dismounted and bowed to the ground, weeping. Tears also came to Liu Bei’s eyes when he saw his faithful warrior.

Still panting from his exertions, Zhao Yun gasped out, “My fault is too grave, even death is too light a punishment. Lady Mi was severely wounded—she refused my horse and threw herself into a well. She is dead and all I could do was to cover up the well by pushing down the broken wall. But I placed the babe in the breast of my fighting robe and have fought my way out of the enemy’s encirclement, thanks to Your Lordship’s good fortune. At first he cried a good deal, but for some time now he has not stirred or made a sound. I fear I may not have saved his life after all.”

Then he opened his robe and looked—the child was fast asleep.

“Thank Heaven, your son is unhurt, sir,” said Zhao Yun happily as he held out the baby to him in both hands. Liu Bei took the child but threw it to the earth angrily, saying, “To preserve that suckling I very nearly lost a great general.”

Zhao Yun hastily picked up the child and said in tears, “Were I to suffer a violent death I could not prove my gratitude to you.”

From Cao’s army a tiger rushed,

In his breast the child slept.

To show he rated Zhao Yun high,

Liu threw his son aside.

Wen Ping and his men pursued Zhao Yun to the Long Slope Bridge, where they saw Zhang Fei’s bristling mustache and fiercely glaring eyes before them. There he rode his battle steed, his hand grasping his terrible serpent-like spear, guarding the bridge. They also saw great clouds of dust rising behind the woods in the east. Fearing that they might fall into an ambush they halted, not daring to advance further.

In a little time Cao Ren and many other officers also arrived, but none dared press forward, wary not only of Zhang Fei’s fierce look, but also afraid that they should become victims of yet another ruse of Zhuge Liang. As they came up they formed a line to the west of the bridge, while a messenger was sent at once to inform their lord of the situation.

As soon as Cao Cao heard about this he mounted and rode to the bridge to see for himself. Zhang Fei’s fierce eyes, scanning the rear of the army opposite him, saw the silken umbrella and the banners approaching. He concluded that Cao Cao had come to find out for himself how matters stood. So in a mighty voice he shouted, “I am Zhang Yi-de of Yan—who dares to fight with me?”

At the sound of this thunderous voice a terrible quaking fear seized upon all his enemies. Cao Cao immediately told his attendants to take the umbrella away. Turning to his followers he said, “Guan Yu once said that his brother Zhang Fei could easily take the head of a powerful general amid an army of a million soldiers. Now here he is in front of us—we must be careful.”

As he finished speaking, that terrible voice was heard again: “I am Zhang Yi-de of Yan—who dares to fight with me?”

Cao Cao, seeing his enemy so fierce and resolute, began to think of retreat and Zhang Fei, noticing a movement in the rear of the enemy force, once again shook his spear and roared: “What do you mean, cowards? You will not fight, nor do you run away.”

This roar had scarcely finished when an attendant of Cao Cao’s, terror-stricken, reeled and fell from his horse. Panic also overpowered Cao Cao, and he turned at once to run for his life. At this, all his officers and men scurried westward in great haste. They were as frightened as a suckling babe at a clap of thunder, or like a weak woodcutter hearing the roar of a tiger. Many of them threw away their spears, dropped their casques and fled, becoming a wave of panic-stricken humanity and tumbling mass of terrified horses. Some were trampled underfoot by their own comrades.

Zhang Fei was wrathful; and who dared

To accept his challenge? Fierce he glared;
His thunderous voice rolled out, and then
In terror fled Cao Cao’s million men.

Panic-stricken, Cao Cao galloped westward, thinking of nothing but getting away. He lost his headdress and his loosened hair streamed behind him. Presently, Zhang Liao and Xu Chu came up with him and seized his bridle, yet fear had deprived him of all self-control.

“Do not be frightened,” said Zhang Liao. “After all, Zhang Fei is but one man and not worthy of so much fear. If you will only return and attack you will capture your enemy, Liu Bei.”

Their words helped Cao Cao to regain some presence of mind, so he ordered the two of them to go back to the bridge and find out the situation.

Zhang Fei saw the disorderly retreat of the enemy but he dared not pursue. Then he called back his score or so of dust-raising followers to cut loose the branches from their horses’ tails and destroy the bridge. This done, he went to report to his brother and told him of the destruction of the bridge.

“Brave as you are, brother, you’re no strategist, I’m afraid,” said Liu Bei.

“What do you mean, brother?”

“Cao Cao is very unyielding. The destruction of the bridge will bring him in pursuit.”